Free meals year-round in ambitious scheme
NORTH Lanarkshire Council claims to have announced the most ambitious children’s free meals scheme in Scotland.
The council has announced £500,000 proposals to provide free meals for children in low income households every day of the year. Its Food 365 programme would cover the 175 weekend and school holiday days of the year when pupils are not at school.
Councillor Frank McNally, convener of education, said: “These proposals to tackle weekend and holiday hunger are the most ambitious in the country.
“Groups like the Trussell Trust are struggling to cope with demand from parents and research has suggested that pressure on food banks doubles during the holidays.
“North Lanarkshire has one of the highest concentrations of deprivation in the country and this is only going to be exacerbated by f urther welfare reforms.”
If approved by the education committee, a pilot project will take place in Coatbridge during the 2018 spring break.
Following an evaluation of this pilot, the programme would then be extended to cover the whole of North Lanarkshire in time for the summer holidays.
National research shows that almost a third of parents with incomes under £25,000 skip meals during the school holidays so that their children can eat and nearly two thirds are not always able to afford food outside of term time.
This rises to half and threequarters respectively for parents with incomes under £15,000.
While some councils in the UK have committed to holiday programmes, these do not include weekends, so North Lanarkshire claims its would be the most comprehensive in the country.
Mr McNally added: “A good diet plays a key role in healthy growth and development, supporting learning and social skills and sets a positive habit to be continued later in life.
“Our plans will do much to promote healthy eating and address some of the symptoms of poverty for children who need it most.”
North Lanarkshire is one of the nine “challenge authorities” in Scotland with the highest levels of deprivation. Nearly 21 per cent of children live in low income households.
The proposals will be discussed by councillors at a meeting of the education committee on February 20.